im new to the substack so im not sure if this is where to submit questions, but anyways
watching luciano play defense in general has been, interesting. with the importance of infield defense for this pitching staff, and the organization liking his bat, do you see a potential move to 1B in luciano's near future? wilmer's not getting younger, and luci serving as a right handed 1B/DH with the occasional start around the infield when needed (a lá wilmer) seems like a healthy step towards a consistent role on the major
league squad. obviously this open's up questions about the SS position post-ahmed, but im not sure anyone is really confident luciano is the answer there.
I have numerous queries, all of which begin with "Whatever is going on with...?" Foremost is Wade Meckler and his "undisclosed injury" and zero games played to date. Another is Marco Luciano: why the offensive dropoff, and can he play an acceptable shortstop? (And if not, could he work at third?) And then there's Luis Matos and his falloff... And last but not least, David Villar...
When I look at Marco Luciano, I see a lot of troubling metrics. Exit velocities look good, but an average launch angle of 2.7 degrees, barrel rate of 6.2%, z-contact% of 78.7% and z-swing% of 56.3% all look suboptimal to me. He seems to have a good idea of the strike-zone but doesn't swing enough and when he does swing, his contact rate is below average. When he does make contact, he seems to hit the ball hard on the ground which would explain why he has a .078 ISO this season. How do you asses Luciano's season thus far and do you still see him as a future impact player?
Now that so many youngsters have been called up from Triple-A, would you give a primer on how the Giants will be assessing their growth? As in, what’s the single thing the club most wants to see from Ramos, Schmitt, Matos, Sabol and Wisely to gauge if they’re more ready for the big stage than last season?
Hello Roger and thanks from all of us. Your ability to provide such quality content, day-in-day-out is astounding. We all tuned for more stolen bases and it seems like the only players not on the text chain was the big league guys. It’s an offensive category missing from the stat sheet and I’m left wanting more. How does it translate from minors to majors and how do you rank the best bag swipers in the system? Will Onil the unicorn be able to carry his success up the ladder? Clearly I want more! Thanks in advance.
Is it time for Dylan Cummings to move up - doesn'tseem to have any more to prove in Eugene? Is a more likely future for Will Bednar to move to reliever like his brother?
Hello Roger! Thank you for the very good content you publish on a regular basis. Two questions for this week:
1) Our best MiLB prospects appear to be pitchers. Please rate the top 6-8 (or possibly more) pitchers you see as possible ascensions to the MLB squad in 2024-2026. Furthermore, which of these would you say are "keepers" vs. "possible trade pieces", based on their projected career arc?
2) Turning to our hitters/position players: you have highlighted and encouraged us about a group of players who we thought were ascending steadily toward MLB, only to fall off a bit in 2023 and so far this year: Aeverson Arteaga (MyGuy), Rodney McCray, Vaun Brown, Marco Luciano, and to a lesser extent Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald. Same question: which ones are long term keepers vs. possible trade pieces, and who is among the next wave of prospects we will want to watch closely?
Hi John, your question is going into the mailbag this week, but I just wanted to mention that I've noticed you habitually refer to Grant McCray by his father's name, Rodney. Trust me, Rodney's in his 60s these days, so probably wouldn't make for a very good outfield prospect at this point! Our guy is Grant!
Roger, I just discovered I can watch the Giants minor league teams via my MLB.TV subscription. Do you have any recommendations of which teams to watch right now?
Simple - what is wrong with Meckler and why is this being treated like a Soviet state secret.
im new to the substack so im not sure if this is where to submit questions, but anyways
watching luciano play defense in general has been, interesting. with the importance of infield defense for this pitching staff, and the organization liking his bat, do you see a potential move to 1B in luciano's near future? wilmer's not getting younger, and luci serving as a right handed 1B/DH with the occasional start around the infield when needed (a lá wilmer) seems like a healthy step towards a consistent role on the major
league squad. obviously this open's up questions about the SS position post-ahmed, but im not sure anyone is really confident luciano is the answer there.
I have numerous queries, all of which begin with "Whatever is going on with...?" Foremost is Wade Meckler and his "undisclosed injury" and zero games played to date. Another is Marco Luciano: why the offensive dropoff, and can he play an acceptable shortstop? (And if not, could he work at third?) And then there's Luis Matos and his falloff... And last but not least, David Villar...
Timelines on Rayner and Walker Martin? Do we see them in San Jose anytime soon
When I look at Marco Luciano, I see a lot of troubling metrics. Exit velocities look good, but an average launch angle of 2.7 degrees, barrel rate of 6.2%, z-contact% of 78.7% and z-swing% of 56.3% all look suboptimal to me. He seems to have a good idea of the strike-zone but doesn't swing enough and when he does swing, his contact rate is below average. When he does make contact, he seems to hit the ball hard on the ground which would explain why he has a .078 ISO this season. How do you asses Luciano's season thus far and do you still see him as a future impact player?
Now that so many youngsters have been called up from Triple-A, would you give a primer on how the Giants will be assessing their growth? As in, what’s the single thing the club most wants to see from Ramos, Schmitt, Matos, Sabol and Wisely to gauge if they’re more ready for the big stage than last season?
Hello Roger and thanks from all of us. Your ability to provide such quality content, day-in-day-out is astounding. We all tuned for more stolen bases and it seems like the only players not on the text chain was the big league guys. It’s an offensive category missing from the stat sheet and I’m left wanting more. How does it translate from minors to majors and how do you rank the best bag swipers in the system? Will Onil the unicorn be able to carry his success up the ladder? Clearly I want more! Thanks in advance.
Is it time for Dylan Cummings to move up - doesn'tseem to have any more to prove in Eugene? Is a more likely future for Will Bednar to move to reliever like his brother?
Hello Roger! Thank you for the very good content you publish on a regular basis. Two questions for this week:
1) Our best MiLB prospects appear to be pitchers. Please rate the top 6-8 (or possibly more) pitchers you see as possible ascensions to the MLB squad in 2024-2026. Furthermore, which of these would you say are "keepers" vs. "possible trade pieces", based on their projected career arc?
2) Turning to our hitters/position players: you have highlighted and encouraged us about a group of players who we thought were ascending steadily toward MLB, only to fall off a bit in 2023 and so far this year: Aeverson Arteaga (MyGuy), Rodney McCray, Vaun Brown, Marco Luciano, and to a lesser extent Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald. Same question: which ones are long term keepers vs. possible trade pieces, and who is among the next wave of prospects we will want to watch closely?
Hi John, your question is going into the mailbag this week, but I just wanted to mention that I've noticed you habitually refer to Grant McCray by his father's name, Rodney. Trust me, Rodney's in his 60s these days, so probably wouldn't make for a very good outfield prospect at this point! Our guy is Grant!
Any updates on Walker martin? When do you think he'd debut in SJ?
Roger, I just discovered I can watch the Giants minor league teams via my MLB.TV subscription. Do you have any recommendations of which teams to watch right now?